Timeline Standard

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In this video, we're going to take a look at the structure of our Standard Timeline Storyline template, and how to make a few edits to the file.

This is a single-slide template. It's very straightforward in function: Users click one of the timeline points on the base layer, and a corresponding content layer will appear.

To edit introductory content or the date labels on the main timeline select the base layer, and then the text box you'd like to adjust.

Similarly, to edit the content on each pop-up layer, navigate to that layer and select the text box there.

Back on our base layer, there are a few things to look at. First, the number of points displayed on the timeline is controlled by a variable called NumOfPoints_. You can edit this at the top of the Slide Triggers panel.

Next, let's look at editing the style of those points. All shapes on the timeline are directly editable in Storyline. Starting with the main timeline shapes—the parallelograms—we can simply select and add color, stroke, etc. as desired. Similarly, the style of the oval tied to each timeline point can be directly edited. To edit its relative line and icon, you'll need to get into the object's states. Click the Edit States button and click the state you'd like to edit in, then the object. As noted previously, the icons are custom SL shapes and can be edited like any other Storyline shape.

One last slightly tricky bit to note here. Once you've got your timeline points styled hide those groups you've just edited (called "Timeline #" in the Timeline...) and take a look at the screen. You should see a bit of the timeline still on screen. These are redundant shapes that show up if you reduce the number of points using the variable mentioned earlier. Make sure to style these like you did for those active groups to keep things consistent and avoid surprises down the road!